June 10, 2002
Ministry helps women begin new lives
___Shirley Madden is convinced the vision for My Father's House of Lubbock is God-given. And she sees the women who already have been a part of the Christian Women's Job Corps program as evidence.
___"Eight years ago, the Father told me Lubbock needed a women's center that would meet this audience," she said. "Many of the women that we hope to serve are women who right now are trying to put a roof over their heads by living with whomever, just to give safe housing to their children."
Shelby Anderson, a family counselor and parent educator with the Lubbock Independent School District, leads a parenting class in the Christian Women's Job Corps program at My Father's House, Lubbock. Ken Camp photo/BGCT
___B.B. Talley learned the hard way about depending financially and emotionally on men who are not dependable.
___She didn't want to be dependent on anybody else. But as a working single mother who needed to provide for her children's needs, she swallowed her pride and went to a social services office in Lubbock to apply for Medicaid for her kids.
___There she learned about the Christian Women's Job Corps program at My Father's House.
___Talley had been working long, late hours as a bartender. "It seemed like I worked forever--days and days in a row. I didn't see my kids for two weeks at a time because I was trying to make a living," she said.
___"Finally, something just broke. I said, 'I can't do this any more. I can go without a job for a little while to come make myself better.'"
___In the Christian Women's Job Corps program at My Father's House, Talley learned about computers, money management and family life. And in daily Bible studies during the 10-week program, she learned about Jesus.
___"I'm getting closer to God," she said. "I read my Bible now. I go to the Cowboy Church; I'm comfortable there."
___After being a part of bad relationships, she learned to trust again. Talley developed friendships with other students, volunteer teachers and a mentor who will continue to work with her after she completes the classroom instruction.
___And after enduring plenty of disappointments, she learned to dream again. "When I finish here, I want to go to college," she said. "I'd like to be a counselor for adolescents. I was a troubled teenager myself, and I think I came from where some of these kids are. I think I can help, because I've been there."
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